Roll changing rig



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS P. SIEGER M. P. SIEGER ETAL ROLL GEANGING RIG MAURICE JAMES R. ADAIR THEIR ATTORNEY July 27, 1965 Filed Feb. 25, 1963 July 27, 1965 M. P. SIEGER ETAL 3,

ROLL crmwme are Filed Feb. 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 i J 20 l 56 l 59 5 35 T I 1 9 l5 l l5 I I8 I I8 INVENTORS MAURICE P. SIEGER BY JAMES R. ADAIR TH EIR AIIORNEY 1965 M. P. SIEGER ETAL 3,196,658

ROLL CHANGING iue I Filed Feb. 25, 1963 5 Shuts-Sheet 3 9 O N N a Z n '1 y n as a l N I) H N N N q-l ATTORNEY y 1965 M. P. SIEGER ETAL 3,196,658

' ROLL cxumcme RIG Filed Feb. 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 LO (1; o k TIgIIIM! fi r' E INVENTORS MAURICE P. SIEGER BY JAMES R. ADAIR THEIR AI 'TORNEY July 27, 1965 M. P. SIEGER ETAL 3,

ROLL CHANGING RIG Filed Feb. 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 8

INVENTORS MAURICE P SIEGER BY JAMES R. ADAIR THEIR ATTOBNEY United States Patent greases RGLL CHANGING REG Maurice Paul Sieger and .lames Richard Adair, Pittshurgh, Pa, assignors to United Engineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 25, 1%3, Ser. No. 269,612 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 9, 1962, 9,113/62 11 Qlaims. (Cl. 72-239) This invention relates to a roll changing apparatus employed, for example, in conjunction with rolling mills, and, while not limited thereto, is particularly concerned with the removing and replacing of the rolls of a vertical rolling mill.

The Changing of the rolls, for example, of an overhead driven type vertical mill and, more particularly, of a vertical edger mill of a universal slabbing mill, in addition to requiring the services of an overhead crane during the entire roll changing operation, has proven to be a very time-consuming and cumbersome operation. This condition is aggravated by reason of the fact that each roll must be individually removed and replaced by the overhead crane by means of a specially designed crane hook. In one commonly employed mill, the time normally required to perform the roll changing operation may vary from 4 /2 to 6 /2 hours. Since only one overhead crane is normally installed in the slabbing mill area, the crane, while occupied with the changing of the rolls of the mill, is not available to perform its many other duties and such duties must be held in abeyance, which extend the down or non-operating time requind to put the mill back into operation.

Although the rolls of the vertical mills are usually changed during a down or non-operating period of the plant, occasions do arise when it is necessary to change the rolls during the operating period thereof. In view of the substantial time involved to effect the changing of the rolls, substantial production losses are inevitable.

The purpose of this invention, in relationship to vertical mills of the above type, is to provide a novel arrangement for quickly changing one or both rolls of the mill, which is particularly advantageous when employed to service vertical mills employing overhead drives. It is a feature of the invention to provide an arrangement that will eliminate the need of an overhead crane for the actual roll changing operation, since the crane is required only to lift a portable roll changing apparatus onto and off of the mill table before and after the roll changing operation, respectively. The actual mounting of the new rolls onto the apparatus and the removing of the old rolls therefrom can be done at any time when convenient and, particularly, after the mill has been put baclr into operation.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a roll changing arrangement is provided including an apparatus having an overhanging elevated portion for receiving and carrying a pair of vertically arranged rolling mill rolls of a vertical mill. The apparatus also has a base section which engages with and is carried by the reversably driven table rollers of the mill and by which means the apparatus is advanced toward and away from the mill after it has been placed thereon by a crane. T e side guards of the mill can be used to properly position the apparatus relative to the mill. The overhanging portion of the apparatus is designed to be placed in position to receive the vertical rolls of the mill. Prior to this the rolls are moved relative to the housings of the mill onto an awaiting lifting device which simutlaneously transfers the rolls onto the overhanging portion of the apparatus. Following this, the apparatus can be retracted away from "ice the mill by rotating the driven table rollers, after which it is removed from the table by a crane. The crane will then place a second apparatus upon the table having a new pair of rolls carried thereby and the operation is reversed.

In or er that the invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the preferred em bodiment thereof will be now fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational View, partly in section, of a universal slabbing mill shown for the purpose of illustrating various features of the present invention;

FlGURE 2 is an elevational view of the roll carrier that is secured to the vertical edger mill shown in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is the second elevational view of the roll carrier shown in FIGURE 2 with one of the rolls removed to facilitate illustrating some of the characteristics of the roll carrier;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view, partly in section, of one form of the roll changing apparatus herein disclosed, and of the mill entry table and universal slabbing mill, only one housing of the vertical edger mill being shown wherein the rolls have been removed to better illustrate certain features of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the roll changing apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a partial sectional view taken on the lines VIVI of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of the roll changing apparatus rotating device employed in conjunction with the roll changing apparatus shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6; and

FIGURE 8 is a second elevational view, partially in section, of the roll changing apparatus rotating device that is shown in FIGURE 7.

With reference to FIGURES 1 and 4, it will be observed that the universal mill consists of a vertical edger mill 9 .and a slabbing mill It the latter being only partly illustrated, the rolls thereof not being shown at all. Projecting from each of two common sides of the slab mill 10 are two pairs of spaced-apart hinge elements 11 into which are received complementary hinge elements 12 formed as an integral part of identical vertically extending edger mill housings 13 and 14 of the vertical mill 9. Each housing 13 and 14 rotatably receives cooperating vertically disposed rolls 15 and 16, to the opposite ends of which bearing-chock assemblies 17 are secured. As best shown in FIGURE 3, the opposed chocks of each roll are connected together by cross members 13.

The vertical edger mill 9 is provided with symmetrical overhead drives 20 which are driven from a common electrical motor not shown. Each drive includes a bevel gear set, not shown, one of which is drivenly connected to a spur gear 21 which, in turn, meshes with hollow spur gears 22, this gear being rotatable about the gear 21 on rotation of the housings 13 or 14. The spurgears are best shown in FIGURE 4.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, projecting from the spur gears 22 into which they are received are parallelly arranged driving spindles 23 and 24 which carry at their lower ends universal couplings 25 and 26 for engaging in driving relationship with the upper ends of vertical rolls 15 and 16. The spindles 23 and 24 are connected to the spur gears 22 by splines 30 which permit them to be raised and lowered whereby the couplings 25 and 26 can be raised out of their operative positions. The operative and retractive positions of the coupling are illustrated in FIGURE 1. The mechanism for raising and lowering the spindles is shown only in FIGURE 1 where it is illustrated with respect to the spindle 24. This spindle, it will be noted, is provided with an internal bore into which is received the cylinders of a piston cylinder assembly 27, the piston of which extends from the lower end thereof and engages, when lowered, the upper end of the roll 16, the roll being at this point immovable. On the application of pressure by the piston cylinder assembly 27, the spindle 24 will beforced up into the hollow spur gear 22. In order that the piston of the piston cylinder assembly 27 can be retracted to permit the roll 16 to be moved laterally, a latch 28 is provided, being pivotally mounted on the housing 14 and which, as shown in FIGURE 1, can be positionedto engage the coupling 26 to hold the latter from lowering. The latch is rotated by a lever 29.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the symmetrical housings 13 and 14 of the vertical edger mill 9 are provided with elevated horizontally arranged rails 31 which extend toward the center of the mill and which may by rotation of the housings be located in a coplanar relationship. At the bottom of the housings upright plates 32 are secured thereto which serve as guides or restraining members for the roll assemblies as they are moved laterally over the rails 31 during the roll changing operation.

In referring again to the bearing-chock assemblies 17 of the rolls and 16, as they are illustrated in FIGURE 4, it will be observed that the upper chocks are provided with grooves 33 and 34 at their lower ends. With respect to the grooves 34, they are made to extend entirely across the face of the chocks; whereas, the grooves 33 have a relatively narrow length. The width of the projections and the depth of the grooves are made to be received by the rails 31, in the case of the grooves 34 and by a bracket of the roll changing apparatus yet to be explained, in the case of the grooves 33. When the grooves 34 are in engagement with the rails 31, the rails will support the rolls 15 and 16, both during the operation of the mill and during the removal and replacement of the rolls.

Although not specifically shown in the drawings, the bearing-chock assemblies 17 are designed to be secured to the housings 15 and 16 of the vertical edger mill by a series of bolts. In this regard, as shown in FIG- URE 4, the housings are provided with bolt holes, as are the checks, into which the bolts are received. As illustrated in FIGURE 1, each of the upper chocks 17 is provided with a pair of upwardly extending hooks 35 that extend toward the center of the mill when the chocks are in their operative positions. Another significant construction characteristic of the chocks is found in the projections 19 which project from one of the sides of each of the chocks. It is the purpose of these projections to prevent the faces of the rolls from contacting each other during the roll changing operation and, as shown in FIG- URE 3, the projections abut against each other to accomplish this purpose.

The symmetrical housings 13 and 14 are rotated toward and away from each other by means of individual screw 36 rotatably secured to end frames 37, the screws being driven by motors not shown. Referring to the left of the FIGURE 1 where one of the screws is illustrated in section, the inner end of the screw is received by a ram 38 which is connected to the housing 13 by means of a cross head member 39 that slides over the ram. As a result, allowance is made for the rotational movement of the housing 13. For the purpose of maintaining the housing, ram and screw in positive engagement with each other, a pullback piston cylinder assembly 41 is provided, the cylinder being trunnion mounted on the end frame 37 and having its piston connected to the back of the housing 13.

The rolls 15 and 16 are moved laterally along the rails 31 to effect their removal and replacement by piston cylinder assemblies 42 carried by the upper portions of the end frames 37. The location of the cylinder assemblies is such that when the housings are properly positioned, the axes of the assemblies will coincide with d the rolls. In FIGURE 1, which illustrates these cylinder assemblies, it will be noted that to the end of the piston rods of the assemblies, latches 43 are secured which have outer faces that may be brought into engagement with the upper chocks 1'7 of the rolls. The chocks at the engageable locations are provided with slots 44 into which are received the latches :3. To enable the latches 43 to be employed both as pulling and pushing elements, the piston rods of the assemblies 42 are permitted to rotate within the cylinders so that the latches can be rotated 180 whereby they can be brought into a position directly over the slots 44 and rotated against the same distance which will bring the latches 3 into the slots 44 and, thus, upon operation of the piston cylinder assemblies 42 the rolls will be pulled toward the cylinders. In FIGURE 1 the piston cylinder assembly 42, at the left of the figure, is shown in its inoperative position, whereas the piston cylinder assembly 42' at the right of the figure is shown in its pushing position with the latch 43 in abutting relationship with the end of the chock 17.

Before turning to the description of the roll changing apparatus, it is important to discuss two other components of the universal mill. Again, in referring to FIGURES 1 and 4, at the entry side of the universal mill an entry table 45 is provided comprising a number of rotatable rollers 46 which are driven by reversible individ ual motors 47, one of which is shown in FIGURE 1. In cooperation with the table 45, there are provided side guards 43 and 4?, the construction and operation thereof as with the table being well known in the art. As shown in FIGURE 1, the side guard 48 is carried by a ram 51 which is advanced transversely by a rackand pinion 52. Similarly, side guard 49 is carried by a ram 53 and is advanced by a rack and pinion 54. The pinions are rotated by a power source not shown.

As shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, extending in a plane coincidental to the vertical center line of the universal mill, as viewed in FIGURE 1, is a lifting mechanism for the rolls 15 and 16. The roll lifting mechanism includes a vertically arranged piston cylinder assembly 55, the cylinder of which is carried by a frame 56 which is secured to the drives 20 of the vertical edger mill 9. To the upward projecting end of the piston of this assembly there is connected a horizontally extending link 57 which is pivotally connected to the ends of two parallel rods 58. The lower ends of the rods 53 are received into a carrier member 59 which at its bottom is formed with two horizontal projections 61. These projections, as shown in FIGURES l and 3, when in their roll receiving positions, are adapted to simultaneously engage the hooks 35 of the upper chocks 17 of the rolls 15 and 16. FIG- URE 3 illustrates the relationship that will exist between the carrier member 59 and the hooks when the rolls have been brought to the center of the mill immediately before the piston cylinder assembly is operated to lift the rolls off the rails 31.

And now, turning to the roll changing apparatus herein disclosed and referring to FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, there is shown a roll changing carriage 62 which is made up of a rigid upper frame member 63 and three perpendicular arranged base members 64, the lower surface of the base members being designed to engage the reversably driven rollers 46 of the mill table 415. At the top of the carriage there is provided an outwardly projecting bracket 65 having a groove 66 to which is received the projecting portion of the front grooves 33 of the upper chocks 17, the bracket being made sufficiently long to carry both of the rolls 15 and 16 at the same time.

Inside of the groove 66, as shown best in FIGURE 6, there is provided a vertically extending member 67, having complementary tapering sides. In addition, sloping plates 68 are provided, the tapers of the member 67 and the slope of the side plates 68 diverge towards the center of the apparatus.

It is important to note, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 6,

that the weight of the rolls are not carried by the bracket 65 as exemplified by the clearances shown between the upper chocks 17 and the bracket. The weight of the rolls is entirely carried by the base members 64. Accordingly, the upper surfaces of the base members 64 are formed with the roll carrying surfaces on which portions the lower surfaces of the lower chocks rest. In FIGURE 5 it will be observed that in the illustrated form the center members 64 serve to carry both of the rolls. Projecting from the opposite sides of the carriage 62 are arms 70, to the ends of which lugs are secured. The lugs engage the housings 13 and 14 positioning the carriage relative to the mill 9.

The roll changing apparatus is so constructed that the required stability is assured when the rolls are being carried thereby and that the apparatus contains the proper balance in both its loaded and unloaded condition. In this respect the apparatus is designed to be lifted by an overhead crane and for this purpose a linkage assembly 69 is provided at the top of the apparatus. In this arrangement, when the apparatus is carrying the rolls, the linkage assembly is in its upright position as shown in the drawings. When the apparatus is empty, the linkage assembly 69 is rotated and held in a substantial horizontal position by a chain 71, where it will be engaged by the hook of the overhead crane.

One further characteristic of the roll changing apparatus is worthwhile noting. Sometime after the rolls are removed from the mill, it is necessary to rotate them so that their axes will extend in a horizontal plane in order that the rolls may be taken to the maintenance department of the plant. The present invention provides for rotating the entire roll changing apparatus, including the rolls so that the rolls may be positioned from the vertical to the horizontal and vice versa. To facilitate this, the roll changing apparatus 62 is provided with a trunnion rod 72 which is mounted at its base. As shown in FIG- URE 7, a substantial portion of the rod is open at the center of the apparatus.

FIGURES 7 and 8 illustrate a roll rotating device having an upright pedestal 73, the top of which has a recess 74 into which is received the center portion of the trunnion rod 72. FIGURE 8 best shows this relationship. The pedestal '73 is received in an opening 75 formed in the foundation, in which the top of the pedestal projects above the top surface of the foundation.

As FIGURE 8 shows, the roll changing apparatus 62, including a pair of rolls, is adapted to be set upon the pedestal 73 by a crane, the crane hook only being shown. Gnce the apparatus is so positioned, the crane will move its hook toward the left and allow it to lower, thus causing rotation of the apparatus until a portion of the top of the apparatus rests upon one of the sides of the foundation 75. The outlined portion of FIGURE 8 illustrates the roll changing apparatus and its roll in the horizontal position.

A brief description of the roll changing operation of a mill employing the aforesaid equipment is as follows:

The roll changing apparatus 62, excluding rolls, is placed by an overhead crane onto the reversing rolls 46 of the mill table 45, after which the manipulator side guards 48 and 49 are operated to assume a predetermined position where they will act as guides for cent-rally positioning the apparatus 62 with respect to the mill 9. Upon clockwise rotation of table rollers 46, the apparatus will be moved to a position directly in front of the mill. Before this occurs, the piston cylinder assembly 55 of the lifting device is operated to lower the roll carrying member 59 in the position shown in outline form in FIGURE 1. While this is being done, the bolts employed to fasten the rolls 15 and 16 to their housings 13 and 14, respectively, are removed. At the same time the piston cylinder assemblies 27 are operated to lift the spindles 23 and 24 with the couplings 25 and 26 to free the upper ends of the rolls. Latches 28 are then caused to engage the couplings and hold them in a raised position. It will be appreciated that the housings 13 and 14 have been positioned so that the rails 31 will fall within a common plane.

Following this, the piston cylinder assemblies 42 are operated to push the rolls 15' and 16 along the rails 31 to a position at the center of the mill and in a position to allow the hooks 35 to pass over the projection 61 of the roll carrying members 59, as shown in FIGURE 3. In this position theprojections 19 will contact each other whereby the faces of the rolls 15 and 16 will be held out of contact. At this point the piston cylinder assembly 55 is again operated to raise the rolls as a unit a distance sufiicient to permit the roll changing apparatus 62 to be advanced by rotating the roller table 45 and placed in position to receive the rolls. The lugs of the arms 70 will engage the housings 13 and 14 to position the apparatus 63 in the proper position relative to the axis of the rolls.

With the apparatus properly positioned, both rolls are lowered onto the apparatus by operation of the piston cylinder assembly 55 in which connection the bottom choclrs 17 of the rolls come to rest upon the three base members 64 of the apparatus and the grooves 33 of the upper checks will find their places within the groove 66 of the bracket 65. Once this occurs the table rollers 45 are rotated in a counter-clockwise direction to retract the apparatus from in front of the mill 9 where the overhead crane will remove the apparatus with the rolls from the table. Immediately after this, the crane will place upon the table a second duplicate apparatus including a replacement pair of rolls for insertion into the mill. The new roll-s are inserted into the mill by a reversal of the aforesaid operation.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates that the roll changing apparatus of the type herein disclosed can be employed with various types of rolling mills which need not be a universal mill and other types of vertical mills than the one illustrated. Moreover, the roll changing apparatus illustrated can be used to handle only a single roll should this be desired.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle and operation of our invention and have illustrated and described what we consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, we desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for changing a roll of a rolling mill comprising:

a table having a plurality of rollers arranged adjacent to said mill for handling workpieces for said mill, means for rotating said rollers of said table so as to convey a workpiece relative to said mills,

a carriage having means to carry a roll of said mill,

said carriage having a member of a length sufficient to engage simultaneously at least two rollers of said table and being supportable and advanced relative to said mill by said table, and

means for receiving a roll from the mill and for placing it upon said carriage and for removing a roll from said carriage for insertion into said mill.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, including a pair of side guards arranged adjacent to said mill and on a side common to said table, said carriage including members arranged on the two sides of said carriage adjacent to said side guards engageable by said side guards, and

means for adjusting said side guards to position said carriage in a predetermined position relative to said mill.

3. An apparatus for changing a roll of a vertical rolling a! mill wherein said roll has upper and lower bearing-chock assemblies secured to its opposite ends comprising:

a base member having a roll supporting surface that is engaged by the lower bearing-chock assembly of the roll when the roll is in a substantial upright position,

an upright member arranged substantially perpendicular to said base,

said upright member including means for engaging the upper bearing chock assembly for restraining said roll from moving out of its upright position, and

means for positioning the apparatus in a position adjacent the mill so that a roll can be transferred to the apparatus and thereafter for moving the apparatus away from the mill.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said base member includes at least two roll supporting surfaces which are engaged by the lower bearing-chock assemblies of a pair of rolls, and

wherein said roll engaging means is so constructed and arranged to restrain both of said rolls from moving out of their upright positions.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said upper bearing-chock assemblies of said rolls have projections,

said roll engaging means includes two compartments formed by a tapering center member and two side members, and

said projection of one of said upper bearing-chock assemblies of one of said rolls being received in one of said compartments and the projection of said other caring-chock assembly of said other roll being received in the other compartment.

6. An apparatus according to claim 4 including a trunnion means around which the apparatus is rotatable, and

means engaged by said trunnion means in a manner that said apparatus can be rotated into one of two positions so that said rolls can be positioned either in a horizontal or vertical position.

7. In combination with a rolling mill having a pair of vertically arranged rolls,

means for supporting each roll as it is moved toward and away from the center of the mill,

means for moving the rolls over said supporting means,

means for receiving the rolls when moved over said supporting means to the center of said mill,

means for raising and lowering said roll receiving means,

a roll changing apparatus comprising a base'meinber having at least two roll supporting surfaces which are engaged by the lower portions of said pair of rolls,

an upright member arranged substantially perpendicular to said base having engaging means so constructed and arranged to restrain both of said rolls from moving out of their vertical positions, and

means for bringing said apparatus to and from said mill whereby rolls receive-d and raised by said receiving means can be placed on said apparatus, wherein the lower portions of said roll will be supported by said base member and said upper portions will be restrained from moving out of their vertical positions by said engaging means.

3. In combination with a rolling mill according to claim '7 wherein said rolls have bearing-chock assemblies secured to their opposite ends,

a projection on at least one chock of each roll engaging each other to prevent said rolls from contacting each other when they are brought to the center of said mill.

9. In combination with a rolling mill according to claim 7 wherein said means for moving said rolls over said supporting means includes a means that allows said rolls to be moved in opposite directions.

10. In combination with a rolling mill according to claim '7 including means for driving said rolls when in their operative positions, and

means for retracting said driving means to permit said rolls to be moved over said supporting means.

11. In combination with a rolling mill according to claim 7 including means for positioning said roll changing apparatus relative to said mill to receive said rolls from said roll receiving means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 394,122 12/88 Lloyd 801.3 661,470 11/00 Fawell et a1. 80l.3 749,745 1/04 Philp 80-1.3 2,535,898 12/50 Burkhart 80-l.3

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,251,984 12/60 France.

113,098 2/45 Sweden.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR CHANGING A ROLL OF A ROLLING MILL COMPRISING: A TABLE HAVING A PLURALITY OF ROLLERS ARRANGED ADJACENT TO SAID MILL FOR HANDLING WORKPIECES FOR SAID MILL, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ROLLERS OF SAID TABLE SO AS TO CONVEY A WORKPIECE RELATIVE TO SAID MILLS, A CARRIAGE HAVING MEANS TO CARRY A ROLL OF SAID MILL, SAID CARRIAGE HAVING A MEMBER OF A LENGTH SUFFICIENT TO ENGAGE SIMULTANEOUSLY AT LEAST TWO ROLLERS OF SAID 